The Last Shipment, or Conversations with a Barrel

Chapters

Chapter one
Chapter two
Chapter the Last

Chapter one

Applejack opened her eyes. She was quickly greeted with sharp, acid light pouring into her pupils forcing her awake. She groaned as she coughed up the salty, disgusting water she had almost been drowned by.

She felt a dull ache in her limbs as she realized she was still firmly clamped onto her barrel. Slowly, she uncurled her forelegs from it, splinters embedded in her hooves like needles. She gave a gasp of pain.

As she stood up, she took a long look at her surroundings. It was a beach, that was for sure... and beyond was the forest she had, for the past week, hoped to see.

She simply wished it was under different circumstances. She glanced over at her barrel. It looked a bit battered, but otherwise unharmed. She ran her hooves over it's surface, checking the seal, and to her relief, it was undamaged. If she lost her cargo... then she was finished. She might as well never return.

Her mind turned towards her journey, the ship, the sea, the wind in the sails...

Flashes of memory danced before her eyes as she recalled her trip. Waves like castle walls advancing on her, and that infernal twister, standing above it all like a deadly overlord...

Applejack shook her head, eager to be rid of those thoughts. She had to focus on the now. Where was she?

The only coast they had been near when the storm hit was the southern continent. At least she was on track. But aside from that...

She turned towards the forest again. Impenetrable, foreboding.

She groaned as she realized she'd have to go through it, aches in her muscles and bones, or not. She turned to her barrel resolutely.

“Well, partner... looks like we got a heck of a trip ahead of us.” she commented bravely. Her eyes caught sight of a small brown object, floating not too far from her. Her eyes widening in joy, she cantered towards it.

Her hat lay on the sand, gently rising now and then as waves lapped around it's edges, unable to carry it back into the water. Applejack picked her favourite accessory up and shook it a few times to dislodge most of the water, before placing it on her head, still uncomfortably soggy, but better than nothing.

“Looks like we're all set.” she commented, trotting back to her barrel. She tipped the wooden object on it's side and began rolling it towards the forest, the round wooden surface easily moving across the smooth sand, the slight, almost imperceptible sound of the sand shifting beneath it made impossibly loud by the absence of any other noise aside from the soft waves sliding across the shore.

It became more difficult as the sand began to get dryer, more dune-like, absorbing more of the forces Applejack subjected to the barrel, and even more so as she began to penetrate into the forest beyond.

“C'mon, partner... just work with me here...” Applejack grunted as the barrel clambered over weeds and twigs, lurching from side to side, the seal keeping the contents within safe and sound.

The woodland wasn't particularly threatening: the trees weren't all that tall, and neither were they dark, dying, or twisted. Sunlight poured in from through the leaves, leaving a beautifully crafted pattern across Applejack's coat, like some form of desert camouflage Rarity might design when military fashion was the current trend.

Applejack had to admit she missed Rarity. She could use a little companionship out here... all alone.

“Heh, Ah'm not completely alone.. Ah've got you, haven't Ah, partner?” she said with false cheer, knocking the side of her barrel with her hoof as she navigated a particularly difficult root. The barrel didn't answer. Applejack sighed. “Okay... Ah guess Ah'm a little lonely.” she muttered.

She scanned the forest, hoping against hope to see signs of a path, a road, or a building. Anything that might lead her to civilization. There wasn't any. There was hardly even any life in the forest: most places like this had an overwhelming amount of birds, insects and small critters, but here... aside from sporadic birdsong, she couldn't see anything. Just lots of trees, grass, and bushes.

Applejack sighed. She would have to occupy herself somehow... perhaps she could try identifying different kinds of tree, or cloud-spotting. She remembered that was an activity Rainbow Dash enjoyed.

There had been that one time, Applejack recalled, when she and the young pegasus had tried weightlifting as an exercise. To develop leg muscle, she remembered with a chuckle. As if they needed any more of that. Of course, it had quickly become competitive, and at the end of it all, both mares ended up trapped under the massive weights somehow, unable to move until their legs stopped cramping up. Rainbow began, out of boredom, pointing out the different types of cloud in the sky, and describing their place of origin, manufacturer, and purpose. Applejack hadn't spoken during that whole time. It had been interesting listening to something that all pegasi from Cloudsdale learned to know everything about.

“Those are some Cirrocumulus. They're used to transport water and sometimes ice crystals across the sky.” Rainbow Dash had said, pointing up at a group of tattered looking clouds, scattered in small clumps. “They're produced by Snow Central Industries, who make a whole load of high altitude clouds. You can tell by the pattern... it's like a watermark for clouds.”

Applejack didn't remember how she had reacted at the time. Probably made fun of her for being a cloud nerd, or something. Then Rainbow Dash would have retaliated by using some choice words to describe Applejack's knowledge on apples. And Applejack would have conceded that point, and Rainbow would have continued.

“And those there? Altostratos. But when I was a kid, my dad would call them Quilt Clouds, y'know, cause they're like a big blanket for the sky. Made by Cloudsdale National Weather Factories for bulk transport, but not quite so bulky as the cumulonimbus, which is only used for the heavy duty stuff. There aren't any today, though.”

Applejack broke herself from her reverie when she found herself nearing a small brook. She gave a small cry of excitement. Salt water did nothing to help quench thirst, and Applejack hadn't drank all day. She rolled her barrel to the edge of the stream and quickly sank her mouth into the crisp, clean water, drinking it up like it was cider.

She barely remembered to breathe as she drank in the endless stream of liquid.

“Guh!” she exclaimed as she lifted her head back, licking her lips. “That felt good...” she muttered, turning towards her barrel, chuckling. “Ah guess y'all don't need a drink, do ya?”

The barrel didn't answer. Applejack hadn't known what she was expecting. She lay down next to the stream, enjoying the sunlight glowing behind her closed eyelids. A quick rest wouldn't hurt, after all.

“Ah wish Ah could tell an altostratos from a cirrocumulus. Must be nice, knowing cloud stuff...” she muttered quietly as she felt the water evaporate from around her mouth. She felt her hoof begin tracing shapes in the sandy earth next to her. She didn't know what it was she was drawing. She didn't mind. “Maybe it's a cloud.” she murmured, before snapping her eyes open again and getting to her hooves. “Time to get moving.”

She examined the stream carefully, pondering how best to cross, before smiling, an idea crossing her mind. She took her barrel and carefully placed it in the centre of the waterway, her hooves only just being able to reach that far. Then, she neatly stepped onto her cargo, using it as a stepping stone to cross.

Unfortunately, she had underestimated just how unstable a barrel would be on a rather soft stream bed with the current pushing it over. She fell into the water clumsily, her barrel knocking her on the side of her head.

“Ow! Watch it, partner!” she exclaimed as she dragged herself, and her barrel out of the stream, safe on the other side, but quite disgruntled at having gotten herself wet. She shook herself, water droplets spraying all over her barrel. She eyed the container accusingly. “Don't you complain to me! You're the one that got me wet in the first place!” she complained bitterly. The barrel still didn't answer. Applejack sighed.

“Fine, Ah forgive you. Let's keep on moving. We've still got a long ways to go before nightfall.”

***

Big Macintosh looked over the numbers again, frowning profusely. Applejack stared at him from the other side of the table, her face worried. Eventually, she couldn't take the strain anymore.

“Well, brother? Will we make it?” she asked, almost biting her hooves off out of anxiety. Big Macintosh sighed, shaking his head.

“Nope.” he replied. Applejack's face fell, as if the world had opened itself up beneath her. This hadn't been something she had really expected to ever see happen to her.

“Ah can't believe it.” she muttered, looking at the sheet of numbers herself. She wasn't a good mathematician, but she had to be able to find if her brother had made a mistake somewhere. She ran her eyes over the papers again and again, her frustration rising within her.

“Why won't... Why won't this make sense?!” she eventually roared, throwing the stack of papers away angrily. Big Macintosh watched them soar through the air impassively. He didn't have anything he thought he could say to his sister. Nothing that would help, anyway.

Applejack let her head slump forwards, her face downcast. She stared at the table for quite some time, unable to move or talk. Eventually, after choking back a couple of tears, she began speaking again.

“So... we won't be able to pay for surgery, huh?” she asked. Big Mac shook his head.

“Nope.”

Applejack swallowed, as if sending her doubts and worries deep into her stomach. She looked up, straight into her brothers eyes, a new determination on her face.

“Ah'll find a way.” she said, her voice still shaky. “Ah won't give up.”

***

Rainbow Dash trotted next to Applejack, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the mare she followed. Sure, she looked fine, if a little serious, but Rainbow knew her friend well enough to see past that façade. For a pony who was meant to defend honesty as a value, Applejack was quick to hide her own problems behind that impassive mask of hers.

“AJ, don't worry too much. Just cause Twi and Pinkie don't have any solutions for you, doesn't mean that we still won't find a way for you to earn bits.” she said, trying to reassure her friend. It didn't seem to be working: sometimes reassurances that everything would turn out all right just heightened the fear of that small possibility that it wouldn't. Rainbow Dash went silent as they approached the doors of the Carousel Boutique.

Applejack swung the door open, and charged in as if she was going to battle. By comparison, Rainbow Dash, who usually played the part of the brash one, seemed to creep inside, overshadowed by Applejack.

“Rarity! Y'all got something for me?” Applejack shouted, unable to see the white unicorn anywhere. After a brief wait, she appeared, another pony in tow. Applejack vaguely recognized the blue maned unicorn stallion as Rarity brought him before the pair.

“Oh, good, you arrived! I have some good news.” Rarity declared. The stallion coughed, politely requesting the attention.

“If I may... we have some good news.” he corrected. “I wanted to assure myself that I brought you the business proposal in person, miss Applejack.” he said. Rarity chuckled nervously, a little surprised about being so quickly overwhelmed by her companion's personality. Usually, she enjoyed leading the conversations... not this time, apparently.

“Oh? Forgive me, but Ah seem to have forgotten your name?” Applejack asked, her voice and attitude the very image of courtesy. The stallion smiled, quite understanding of her predicament, and adjusted a small monocle onto his eye.

“Fancypants. We met a while back, but the encounter was brief, and I confess after we parted ways I didn't remember you very well either. I must say I'm glad you forgot my name, else I would have felt truly awful with myself.” he said, his voice light and pleasant. Applejack chuckled.

“No need to beat yourself up about it. Tell me about this deal you have for me.”

Fancypants coughed and drew out some papers. There weren't many, and they were each decorated with a strange coat of arms on the top right corner. He handed them to Applejack.

“These papers represent an offer. For cider. Not just any cider, but your cider. Specifically, Zap Apple Cider.” he said. Applejack read through the papers, both reading and listening intently. “My good friend Rarity tells me that, although you never sell it, you always keep a barrel safe in storage, in case of absolute emergencies, yes?” he asked. Applejack nodded.

“Eeyup. Only one barrel can be made per year, and usually we enjoy it ourselves, but there's always one in reserve. Last time we sold it, it was...ahem, six years ago.” she said, hesitating slightly as she recalled the events that led to them selling the precious liquid. Fancypants smiled.

“Well, that one time you sold it made quite the impact. The city of Maredrid had an ambassador over in Canterlot when the cider was served, and he is willing to pay an exorbitant amount of bits for a full barrel.”

Applejack raised her eyebrow.

“How many bits?” she asked, her hopes beginning, after so many days of worry, to finally rise again from the ashes of despair. Fancypants smiled, evidently enjoying making Applejack's day.

“Three thousand bits.”

Applejack went silent. So did Rainbow Dash: that was more than the weather pony made in an entire year, despite being concentrated awesome. The pair looked at each other briefly, looks of astonishment on their faces.

Eventually Applejack broke into a massive grin.

“You have yourself a deal, partner!”

***

It was two days since she had struck the deal with Fancypants, and she had been working around the clock sorting out the details of her trip. She had chartered a boat from Manehattan, bought tickets for a train to Manehattan, and, for extra safety, gotten Twilight to add some extra security for her cargo.

“The seal I'm planning on placing should be barely visible, but will protect the contents from everything short of a dragon shooting fire at it.” she explained as she prepared her spell, the barrel in front of her.

Like the cargo inside, the barrel was special. It had been painted white, long ago by Applejack and Big Macintosh themselves when they were much younger. At four points along the centre of the barrel, equally spaced, were four pink hearts. Two more were on the top of the barrel, and on the bottom, making for six in total. Applejack didn't imagine the paint lasting that long during the long trip, but it was the thought that counted.

“How do Ah remove the seal? Y'know, so Ah can open it when Ah get there?” she asked. Twilight smiled, evidently very proud of her work.

“That's the beauty of the spell: if you want to open it, you can. But anything else will simply bounce off against the ward. It's a very good spell, if you want my opinion.”

Applejack nodded, impressed.

“That sounds perfect.” she said. The last thing she wanted to worry about on a long trip was losing or damaging her cargo. She turned to the young alicorn. “Thanks. It means a whole lot for you to all help me.” she said. Twilight chuckled.

“That's what friends are for. I'm just sorry I can't go with you and Rainbow Dash, but Celestia asked for me to be present at the-”

“No need to explain it to me again, sugarcube... me an' RD'll be fine.” Applejack said. Twilight smiled.

“Yes, I suppose so.”

***

Applejack couldn't sleep. The long walk had been devoid of much to grasp her attention, and her mind was constantly awake, darting from this to that, ranging from everything to her friends, Applebloom, and the shipwreck.

It occurred to her that if she hadn't held onto the barrel back then, in an attempt to save it, she might not have survived, pulled under by the titanic waves. She spared a quick glance towards the wooden container. As she had expected, it had since lost all it's paint, but the faint glow of the seal still persisted. Twilight truly had done a magnificent job.

“Ah guess Ah should thank you, partner.” she commented. The moonlight shone on the side of the barrel, making only half of it visible. Applejack sighed.

“Heh. Look at me now... talking to a barrel.”

She turned back to look around for anything that might take her mind off the barrel, thinking not for the first time that day that talking to inanimate objects couldn't be good for a pony's mental stability. Not to mention Rainbow and Pinkie would tease her endlessly if they ever caught her treating a Barrel like something alive.

Not that it was. It was the perfect gentlecolt: never spoke out of turn or did anything unbarrellike. It only moved when Applejack pushed it and rolled it.

Applejack groaned and banged her head against the ground in an attempt to knock what remaining brain cells she had unconscious so she could finally get some sleep. It didn't succeed. She simply ended up looking at the sky again, but it was too dark for her to be able to make out any clouds or even stars. She frowned. That meant there had to be clouds up there...

“Durn' it! Which cloud was it again?” she asked, racking her brain for the name of that... the very long one, the one that covered the entire sky...

“Altostratus.” Applejack declared proudly. “Ah think... didn't he say that it was only for mid-level clouds? Ah can't remember.” she said, her brow furrowing. A hint of sadness entered her voice when she spoke again, about a minute later: “Ah wish Ah could remember...”

Barrel watched, impassively, as Applejack looked up at the sky, trying to figure out what kinds of clouds populated this unfamiliar sky. He didn't have much in the way of opinions, being a barrel, but he watched in polite silence nonetheless.

Chapter two

The forest seemed to less dense than before... she found it easier to navigate Barrel between the trees, and she began to hope that perhaps she'd be approaching some form of field: if she was very lucky she could perhaps spot some kind of village or road without any trees to obstruct her vision, a village where she could find and charter some form of transportation for her and Barrel to Maredrid. But when she finally passed the last tree blocking her path, her face fell.

Faced with a rugged rocky landscape, uneven and unforgiving, she realized that she was probably in for even more troublesome terrain. She looked down at Barrel, visibly unhappy that she'd have to carry him far more than before, unable to roll him over the rough surface ahead.

"Darn it! Y'all just had to go on gaining weight, didn't ya, partner?" she grunted, poking at Barrel's rather rotund form. Barrel himself made no remark, quite content to let Applejack vent her stress on him. She smiled. Barrel was so considerate...

"Well, Ah don't remember the map that well, so without any alternatives... let's get on movin'." Applejack declared, hoisting Barrel onto her back and navigating the more treacherous rocky landscape. She had to admit she was glad to see some trees dot her surroundings. She didn't relish the notion of a completely lifeless mesa.

The grit shifted under her hooves, the sound reminding her of that when she had visited Appleoosa for the first time...

Old memories, best left alone. If she began remembering things, who knew when she'd stop?

She shifted her weight as Barrel began to slip to the side.

"Whoops-a-daisy! Hang on tight, there, partner!" Applejack exclaimed. "Ah know how hard it is to hang on to somepony at a rodeo, but for all our sakes just hang in there." she added, grinning. She missed rodeos. She missed the excitement, the fun, the cheap food... hay fries and thick tomato sauce handed to her as she sat on top of the tall stallion who took her there, so she could see above the pulsing crowd and look at the events down below...

Taking part was fun too. Hanging onto a raging bull was one of her favourite events, aside from lassoing. It was simple, tricky, and wildly unpredictable.

Applejack turned to take stock of her surroundings, this time standing on higher ground. She saw the forest behind her... stretching out as far as she could see, disappearing into the horizon. She wondered how long she had been walking through that idyllic woodland... the days had began to blur together by now. She rubbed her eyes. She wasn't even sure how long it had been since she was walking over these rocks. It felt like it hadn't been long. How long had it been since...

Hadn't there been a beach? Right back at the beginning of her trip?

It didn't help, she reasoned, that her sleep pattern had been completely thrown off. Sleeping in the middle of the afternoon made keeping track of time difficult, impossible even, without anypony to keep track for her. Her carefully crafted routine, hammered into her mind back at the farm had been utterly smashed to pieces.

"Gah. Good thing you don't have an expiration date, huh, partner?" she commented as she resumed her slow, unyielding march. She glanced up at the clouds briefly. She could almost hear the pegasus's voice in her ear.

"Whoo, boy, that's a beauty! Nice little Cirrus up there, nice high altitude." he said, grinning. Applejack chuckled as she looked back down. Pity she couldn't tell clouds apart. She'd love to have something to talk about. Barrel's conversation was getting a little stale.

"Ah don't suppose you know about clouds, do y'all, partner?" she asked her passenger briefly. Barrel did not reply. Applejack shrugged, as if she were uncaring. "If y'all don't want to talk, that's your problem." she replied, a little annoyed that her friend was ignoring her.

"Fine, be that way." she snapped, pausing as she encountered a small ravine. She peered down suspiciously.

It wasn't the most impressive thing she'd seen, but it would take a long time to go around. Too long. It was pretty deep, too, the stream at the bottom only able to be heard faintly. She couldn't estimate exactly how deep: the way it was slanted made her perspective seem off. Not only that, but hunger was giving her eyesight some trouble.

"We'll have to climb across, partner." she told Barrel. Barrel disapproved.

"It's too risky. We should go around instead." Applejack replied. She slapped her face with her hoof, exasperated.

"But we don't have forever! It'll take a whole day to get around!" she complained. Barrel still wasn't convinced.

"Ah know, but surely we could pick another direction? Maybe there ain't a town in that there direction anyhow?" Applejack replied, doing her best to convince her partner against this rash course of action. Applejack just looked at the barrel disparagingly.

"Don't be like that. C'mon, look! There's a tree Ah can use to climb over, no problem!"

"Yes, but if it breaks you'll fall into the river an' drown."

"Ah won't drown, Ah can swim!"

"There's jus' no reasoning with you, is there?"

Applejack sat down, engaging in a desperate staring contest with Barrel, her many bee staring contests with Rainbow finally paying off. But Barrel wasn't giving up either: his wooden expression was driving Applejack utterly crazy.

Eventually Applejack couldn't take it anymore, and in a swift, decisive movement, much to Barrel's shock, she bucked him right in the middle of that area where she decided his stomach should be, her well developed muscles sending him flying straight over the ravine and bouncing on the other side before rattling to a stop.

"Whoa! What was that for?"

"Now all Ah gotta do is climb across." Applejack said, ignoring Barrel completely as she trotted over to the tree, examining it carefully. Sure, it wasn't the most lively tree around, and it had a few branches that looked a little dry and brittle, but the largest and strongest branches were leaning over the ravine, and the farmpony knew her trees. If she thought it could take her weight, then it could.

"Y'all be careful over there!" she exclaimed. Barrel had a worried look across his lid. Applejack swallowed as she drove herself upwards, her hooves clinging onto the slanted side of the tree, her balance impeccable. The tree hardly even swayed. Applejack looked over at Barrel as she began carefully making her way across the makeshift bridge.

"See? Perfectly safe."

"It don't look perfectly safe!"

Barrel had a point. Applejack was making her way to the thinnest parts of the branches, nearest to the very top of the tree, that hung just over the opposing edge of the ravine. Applejack chuckled nervously when she heard the dry wood begin to creak. A second passed as she stood there, unmoving, waiting for any sign that the tree would give. She breathed a sigh of relief.

The branch snapped, splinters shooting out at the most chaotic of angles like shrapnel from an explosion, and Applejack began falling straight down.

"Applejack, no!" she exclaimed as she leapt forward best she could, changing her momentum just enough for her hooves to find purchase on the edge of the cliff. She slid down for a few inches, then stopped. She looked desperately at Barrel.

"Go! Save yourself!"

Barrel heroically stood his ground.

"Ah'll never leave you!" Applejack exclaimed bravely. "Anyway, Ah'm not the one in danger." she added.

"Oh, yeah, right. Mah imagination ran away with me." she said.

Barrel seemed to understand Applejack's predicament, despite the rather volatile circumstances. After all, a long time spent alone tended to make you more susceptible to mind tricks. She tried clawing herself up, but gravity pulled harder. She could barely make any headway. She felt sweat begin to form on her fur and her leg muscles become heavy. Barrel seemed so tauntingly close, yet despairingly far away. Applejack gritted her teeth.

She found herself presented with a choice: either give up and, if she was very, very lucky, live with an injury, or she could keep on trying to save herself, and not only keep herself safe but Barrel too. She grunted with effort, her muscles bulging as she tried lifting her frame above the lip of the cliff.

"Guh! Shouldn't... have eaten... so may guldarn' pies... Applejack!" she exclaimed, before shooting an angry glare at Barrel. However the taunt was enough to convince her to push beyond her limits, and she found herself, lying flat on her back and panting, safe on the other side of the ravine. She was silent for a time, unable to speak.

She had made it.

Both herself and Barrel were well on their way to continuing their trek across the rocky mesa. She turned her head towards the road before her.

To her despair, it stretched on endlessly, faraway hills forming a desolate horizon. Applejack groaned as she looked over at Barrel.

"Looks like we got a long way to go yet, partner."

***

Twilight stepped outside into the sunny, warm outside world, blinking twice as her eyes adjusted, transitioning from intense reading to bright sunlight. She almost cringed, but relished the warm caress of light on her fur.

This idyllic peace was disrupted however, by a familiar pegasus shouting angrily.

"Whaddya mean they lost the tornado cloud? That's a class five stormcloud they just went and... um, what was the word you used? Misplaced?" Rainbow Dash screamed at one of her weather ponies. The pony in question, Thunderlane, had lost the rock paper scissors match to determine who would break it to their field manager that they wouldn't be getting their resources due to a technical failure. Rainbow Dash hated technical things. She couldn't even remember the names of most of the weather they made, referring to them by their colloquial, civilian terms.

"What's wrong, Rainbow?" called Twilight. In the space of a split-second, the cyan mare was mere yards away, still in the process of face-hoofing severely.

"They guys from Manehattan lost our twister cloud... bumbling idiots..."

"You mean a green cloud, right?" asked the alicorn, trying to recall the correct terminology from one of her many study sessions. Rainbow Dash threw her hooves up angrily.

"What do I know? I just move the clouds where they tell me, how they tell me. That science stuff is left to the lab ponies." Rainbow snorted, clearly not caring much for the specifications of each nebulous form she had to deal with on a daily basis. Twilight's horn flashed to life as she opened her mailbox, pulling out a small pile of letters.

"You seem awfully moody lately. What's eating you?" Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash groaned.

"Well aside from this latest embarrassment..." she said, gesturing towards her innocent and berated workers, "I still haven't caught up any of my sleep from since last week when Scoots had her accident, because some dumb fillies were partying right underneath my house, and to top it all off I can't even blow off some steam with AJ. My life sucks right now."

Twilight chuckled. Rainbow Dash couldn't tell a hard day's work if it hit her over the head with a banana. Shaking her head, amused, she became silent when she saw a letter she didn't expect among her usual collection of advertisements. It was very formal and was signed from the Manehatten Merchant Fleet Office. She frowned as she opened it.

"I guess I just need to keep cool until AJ gets back... then I can totally chill and be awesome again." Rainbow Dash added hopefully. She saw Twilight's growing concern as the alicorn read the letter. Eventually Twilight gasped, which set off alarm bells in the pegasus's mind. She landed, and trotted closer. "What, what?" she asked as her friend reread the letter in a panic, working up the nerve to read it aloud.

"It says that a rogue twister hit Applejack's ship..." Twilight began.

***

Applejack curled up next to Barrel, for some reason feeling some kind of warmth emanate from the squat wooden object, as the surprisingly cold night air bit at her skin, particularly her back, which was now itching. Her eyes were still open, looking out at the rocky landscape that surrounded her.

"Ah bet you're wondering why Ah'm out here alone, right, partner?" she asked her friend.

"Ah didn't want to pry, but do tell." Applejack answered.

"Well... Most of mah friends had things to do, see... back at home." she said. "Rainbow was meant to be here with me, but she had to stay behind take care of somepony. Spittin' image of loyalty, that girl. Heh. Makes sense, right?" she explained, before her eyes glazed over wistfully. "Do y'all remember home, partner?"

Barrel didn't respond, deep in thought.

"Ah'm not sure. Ah remember... Ah remember the smell of apples. Y'know, ponies think Ah like the smell of apples because Ah like apples, but t'ain't true. It's cos' of mah family, y'see... the Apples have been livin' in Ponyville since Granny Smith's time." Applejack said. She smiled as she talked, not even glancing once towards Barrel.

"Pa weren't an Apple... but y'all could tell he belonged on the farm. He were a pegasus: and that might sound mighty strange, since mah whole family is earth ponies, but he were. And Ma told me that the day he arrived, he smelt of apples. Took her right by surprise, that did!" she said, laughing. She sighed.

"Ah sometimes wonder if he missed his home... he were always lookin' up at the sky, his hooves pointing at all the different types in the sky... cumulus... cirrus... altocumulus..."

"Y'all sound like you miss him." Applejack replied. She hugged Barrel tighter.

"Nah, 'course not.It's like Granny always says: he never left me." she muttered. She closed her eyes as she let herself drowsily fall to sleep. "'Night, Pa." she muttered.

Alone in the night, the barrel stood, unaware of it's surroundings and the pony who was curled around it. Because it was just a barrel.

Chapter the Last

Despite the grim events that led her here, Twilight found herself enjoying the quaint, sunny town on the edge of the Maredrid Continent, sampling their cheeses and wines when they were done chasing rumours and scanning beaches for any sign of their friend. The first few days had been terrible: like walking in the middle of a nightmare of banality, ordinary life continuing unhindered despite the fate of one of the strongest and bravest ponies of Equestria.

Twilight had not forgotten Applejack: not did she intend to, but the pain had since dulled. Her concern was now for another:

Rainbow Dash had not been doing well without her friend. She was often missing in the middle of the night, and Twilight worried for her until breakfast the next morning, where she discovered that the pegasus had been exploring the beaches for any sign of the wayward farmpony.

She had discovered nothing.

The survivors of the wreck were found quickly: they had remained together and had since regrouped in a small harbour town. It was from them that the news had come: that their ship had been crushed by a rogue twister.

It didn't help Rainbow Dash that it had been a twister intended for her own team, designed to clear massive expanses of leaves and debris and scatter it evenly across the area: a desperate and mostly unnecessary piece of weather that was to be kept in reserve.

Despite her lack of involvement, Rainbow Dash was quick to attribute any possible guilt available on herself. A strange attitude from a mare as responsible as a five year old filly, but Twilight reasoned that there was far more to the pegasus that met the eye.

She was currently staring into her glass, the thick red wine reflecting her morose face. She was apparently unable to enjoy anything, not even flight, a prospect that usually made the colourful mare giddy with delight. Twilight felt her pain: she imagined that all of the other girls back in Ponyville felt the same way. Losing Applejack in such an impersonal, faraway manner felt wrong, abhorrent. To find out in a letter... one that didn't even specify Applejack by name, felt cruel.

As if the universe had targeted them personally.

They both ate in silence. Twilight had learned early on not to try and engage her friend in any sort of conversation. Perhaps a few days ago she would have tried getting Rainbow to talk, but after several arguments, she decided to let the pegasus sort things out on her own.

This did not improve the atmosphere, however.

Twilight was actually happy when a stallion in uniform arrived at their table, interrupting their meal.

"Excuse me... are you Princess Twilight Sparkle?" he asked in the unmistakeable Maredrid accent. Twilight nodded.

"Yes, that's me. What's this ab-"

"We have found her." he blurted out quickly. Rainbow flicked her ears, immediately alert. She seemed to be processing the information as it took it's sweet time working through to her brain.

"You found Applejack?" she asked. Twilight found herself rather unable to speak. The stallion nodded.

"Yes, ma'am. We had to move her to Maredrir, though. Our facilities in the village we discovered her in were not sufficient to treat her."

Twilight frowned.

"Treat her?" she asked, with growing concern. The stallion nodded.

"Yes. You see, she wouldn't stop talking to that barrel..."

***

The trip to Maredrid had gone by in a flash, quite literally: Rainbow had almost broken the sound barrier as she shot towards the city at full speed. Twilight was hard pressed to keep up, nowhere near the master of the skies like her friend was. When they reached the city, however, Rainbow regretted giving Twilight a hard time keeping up: the impatient mare had forgotten to take down directions to the small clinic that Applejack was reportedly staying at, forcing her to wait for over ten minutes for the alicorn to catch up, all the while still stomping at the bit to get going.

After that infuriating delay, they continued onwards to the facility, a small, derelict building. Plaster was flaking off it's walls and the windows were stained. Not many ponies seemed to get admitted there.

Inside was a relative bustle of activity. When Rainbow Dash exploded through the doors, she was greeted with one of the most confusing sights she had seen: Applejack was standing, fighting stance at the ready, on top of that barrel they had sent her off with, and was fending off a small horde of doctors and nurses.

"Get back! Away!" Applejack exclaimed. One of the doctors made the mistake of getting a little too close, almost resulting in him having to go to the hospital himself. Rainbow Dash's mouth hung open slightly.

She felt elated that she was finally laying eyes on the pony she had sought out for a week: but she realized she hadn't quite finished her quest yet.

"Applejack!" she exclaimed, trying desperately to be heard over the din of battle.

Applejack ignored her.

"AJ! It's me, Rainbow Dash!" she exclaimed again. Twilight entered the building, not far behind, surprise as apparent on her face as it had been on Rainbow's.

Applejack delivered a solid kick to a nurse, probably breaking her nose. Rainbow Dash sighed.

"Oh, buck it..." she muttered, her wings flaring. Twilight widened her eyes.

"What? Are you crazy, she might get you if you're not careful..."

"That's why I'm going to be plenty careful..." Rainbow replied, waiting for her moment. As Applejack turned, raising her hooves to kick another doctor away, she smiled.

Bingo.

***

"Okay, well done. So now Applejack is in the hospital for two reasons now." Twilight scolded. Rainbow Dash flicked dirt from her hooves nonchalantly.

"A lot more ponies would have been in casts if I hadn't stepped in." she commented. Twilight sighed.

One of the doctors, now sporting a black eye, limped towards the pair.

"Ahem... you two are friends of the patient?" he asked. Both mares nodded. The doctor adjusted his glasses. "We have seen... similar effects on ponies before. After learning she was the survivor of a shipwreck, well, it does not take a master physician to tell she is suffering from some form of post traumatic stress, heightened by prolonged solitude and dehydration."

Twilight nodded. She had already come to the same conclusion.

Rainbow also nodded. She didn't want to look stupid.

"And to think... if she had simply followed the coast she would have hit a harbour within a day..." added the doctor.

"So... what's with the barrel?" asked Rainbow. The doctor immediately perked up.

"Ah yes, quite fascinating, that. She associated the barrel, her only companion at the time, with the personality of somepony very close to her. In this case, we believe the father." he said. Twilight stopped herself from correcting his grammar: but she reasoned that in the middle of Maredrid, his language was very fine indeed.

"What makes you think that?" asked Rainbow Dash, confused. The doctor chuckled.

"Well, there were many clues, but the way she screamed very loudly: 'get away from my... uhm... Pa, I think it was, rather made me think this."

"And then she hit you."

"In the face, yes, this is true."

A momentary pause in the conversation.

"Well that's a load of horseapples." Rainbow commented furiously. The doctor nodded.

"Yes, but with a little rehabilitation, we think she will be fine."

Twilight looked over at the door that seperated them and the deranged farmpony. She frowned.

"I hope so, doctor."

***

As Applejack woke up, an intense pain in her head and eyes, she found she couldn't move. Her limbs were stuck... trapped against her sides.

And more alarmingly, Barrel was nowhere to be found.

"Hey! Hey, where's mah partner?" she asked the empty room. "Hey!"

The door opens. She feels she should recognize the pony who walks through, but she can't. She frowns.

"Hey, AJ... do you remember me?" she asks. Applejack scans the intruder. Pegasus, rainbow maned, sky blue coat. Suddenly she remembers.

"You're that mare who hit me!" she exclaimed, wrestling against her bonds angrily. "Let me at her!" she shouts.

"No, I'm your friend!" the mare replied, exasperated.

"Yer no friend of mine! Where's mah partner?"

"My name is Rainbow! Rainbow Dash? As in Rainbow Danger Professionalism Dash?"

Applejack seemed to stop at that. She furrowed her brow.

"Wait, what?"

Connections flickered to life in her mind, as if she had suddenly turned around to face the writing on the wall. The mane, the face, the attitude, the eyes... they all came back, as if they had never left.

"Rainbow? What in tarnation are you doing here?" she asked. Rainbow Dash brought her hoof to her face, collapsing slightly.

"We came to find you. You went missing, remember?" she asked. "Twi's here too. You remember Twi, right?"

Applejack looked utterly affronted.

"Course Ah remember Twilight! Who do you take me for?" she asked. Rainbow Dash's face remained utterly emotionless.

"You forgot me though." she said. Applejack stammered.

"Y-yeah, well, that's different. Yer' less memorable."

"Thin ice, AJ. Real thin ice."

Applejack paused. Mainly to gather her thoughts. It still struck her as strange that she was talking to her friend again. A friend she had forgotten, one she had doubted ever existed for what seemed like years. Which brought her to another, frightening thought:

"How long... how long have Ah been gone?"

Rainbow Dash looked at her hooves. Applejack braced herself for the worst. Years, probably. Decades, maybe. She might have left a young pony and be in her later years for all she knew...

"Just under a month." Rainbow confessed. "I'm so sorry we didn't find you sooner..."

Applejack breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank Celestia. Ah was worried for a bit there." she replied, relaxing. Rainbow Dash looked perplexed.

"But- I was worried sick!"

"It's just a month, sugarcube. Anyway, where's mah partner?"

Rainbow Dash paused, her momentary breakthrough forgotten.

"You mean the barrel, right?"

"What's this about a barrel?" Applejack asked. Rainbow Dash sighed and turned, opening the door and shouted to some invisible pony.

"Guys! Bring it in." she shouted. Applejack heard the momentary struggle as, before her eyes, Barrel was brought before her. Yes, he was still battered, but she could tell he was fine. She broke into a wide grin.

"AJ! It's great to see you!" she exclaimed. Barrel chuckled heartily. "These clowns have been running interference for ages. You doing okay?"

Rainbow Dash groaned as the barrel was dumped unceremoniously on the floor, not far from Applejack and well within her line of sight.

"So this is what you meant..." she muttered. One of the doctors chuckled nervously.

"Ahem... yes."

"Hey there, partner! You lookin' mighty fine today."

Applejack felt strange. Barrel was right in front of her... but it seemed different. Like she was putting on a familiar shoe, only to find it didn't fit. She glanced around at the room full of ponies. They had to be the reason. She didn't know how, or why... but they were making her feel uncomfortable.

"Applejack..." Rainbow began. The farmpony glared at her, as if this was her fault. And it was: everything she said sounded strange, like something from a dream. Her vision was blurring. None of this felt real anymore.

Why was Barrel looking so uncomfortable?

"What?" she asked, suddenly far more irritable than before. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, but before she could go any farther, she stopped, her will drained.

"We'll get you better, I promise." she muttered. Applejack frowned.

"Ah'm fine, sugarcube. No need to fret for me."

Rainbow Dash's breath halted. After a brief moment, she made her way towards barrel.

Something broke inside Applejack. A truth she couldn't explain, like a memory implanted in her brain, as if from a dream. No explanation or facts she could do anything other than recall.

"RD, meet mah Pa." she said, happily. Barrel looked exited, but also... no. He didn't look exited. What was wrong with Barrel, all of a sudden?

Rainbow Dash tapped Barrel gently.

"Miss Dash, you need to be honest with her." the doctor said. Unease began gripping Applejack more strongly than before.

Rainbow Dash sighed.

"AJ... this is a barrel." she deadpanned.

And just like that, the illusion was gone. Applejack looked over at the barrel in a new light: she couldn't remember it ever having a face, but she remembered herself seeing it. She closed her eyes, suddenly shocked at the realization that her world was wrong.

"Wh- so it is. But-"

Unanswered questions. Broken memories still unresolved. Applejack fought to put them together, but they wouldn't fit. She needed help. She opened her eyes again, and looked at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus almost flinched under her gaze.

"But if that's a barrel... where is mah Pa?"

***

Rainbow Dash looked over at her friend, concerned even after they had gotten Applejack to speak again. Twilight too, looked worried. It was as if their old concerns, their devastation at Applejack's loss, had been replaced with a new one: longer and chronic, like a disease. It hurt them almost as much seeing the evident turmoil within Applejack.

At first she hadn't believed the truth they told her. She had begun talking to the barrel again, but evidently it had lost it's charm. What really brought her back was Applebloom.

Even though the little filly was miles away, she had succeeded in bringing her sister back to the realm of reality.Rainbow Dash thought to herself that Discord would probably develop a rather powerful grudge against her for that: but on that note, Discord was scheduled to have cucumber sandwiches with Fluttershy, so he was probably as reformed as he could get at this point.

The pony they stood before was smiling with anticipation: memories of years ago were flooding through his mind as he waited for Applejack to open the barrel.

It would normally be quite simple: after all, opening the barrel, and breaking the seal, meant that their deal had been confirmed. Applejack would get the money for Applebloom's surgery, and the ambassador would get his Zap Apple Cider.

It felt like it should be the end of Applejack's troubles, but in reality, someponies mind doesn't get fixed as quickly as a few friends saying hello. It's the first step to getting back on your hooves, but time, and a great deal of talking, is part of the procedure. A lot of ponies who became insane never stopped. Applejack was lucky in that regard.

Applejack ran her hoof across the lid. The trouble with this, was that, according to Twilight, only Applejack could open the barrel. A protection against thieves, she said. But you couldn't open something if you didn't think it could be opened. It somehow became a rather defining moment for the three mares.

But despite the challenges she had faced, Applejack was stronger than most ponies.

She wrenched the lid open.

"Olay!" the entire crowd exclaimed, and the ambassador literally jumped for joy as the heady smell of cider hit his nostrils like a banana out of Tartarus.

Applejack took her bits with a smile and walked back towards her friends.

"Let's go. Ah've had it with this country." she grumbled, leaving the locals to their festivities, Rainbow Dash grinned. Twilight felt like admitting that she'd quite miss he wine.